


Man, the Man is Non-Stop

by 1848pianist



Series: Raise a Glass to the Four of Us [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bipolar Disorder, F/M, Families of Choice, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 19:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4973509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1848pianist/pseuds/1848pianist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hamilton has a tendency not to notice important things, like the need for sleep. Luckily he has friends to watch out for him and occasionally drag him away from homework for more important things, like cuddling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Man, the Man is Non-Stop

**Author's Note:**

> Alexander Hamilton: my bi, biracial, bipolar son - the poly sci major.
> 
> (I'm imagining the characters here as they are in the musical, but imagine as you wish. )

“Where’s Hamilton?” Laurens asks, looking up from his desk and glancing around the dorm as if expecting Hamilton to be in the room somewhere.

Lafayette shrugs from his bed. “How would I know?”

“Yeah, but…” Laurens trails off, knowing something is up. “Did you see him yesterday?”

“No. Did you?”

“No.”

“He’s probably just busy,” Lafayette says and goes back to his book. His forehead is line with worry now, though.

“Hamilton’s always busy. He doesn’t disappear,” Laurens insists. “I’m going to look for him.” He gets up and grabs his jacket, relieved when he hears Lafayette getting up to follow him.

“The library?” Lafayette suggests, only half a question.

“The library,” Laurens replies.

“You take the ground floor,” Lafayette says as they rush through the doors. I’ll start from the top.”

Laurens nods, and heads off into the ground floor stacks. He doesn’t see any sign of the familiar ponytail, but he’s so intent on his search that he almost runs straight into Eliza.

“Oh, hi Laurens,” she says. “In a hurry?”

“Looking for Alex,” he says. “Have you seen him?”

She shakes her head, frowning. “Is he missing again?”

“Maybe.” Laurens hopes this isn’t a repeat of certain past episodes, where Hamilton forgets or willfully ignores the need for sleep, food, and contact with other human beings. He always manages to get entire weeks’ worth of homework done in those few days before Laurens, Lafayette, Angelica, or Eliza notice, but without fail the episodes are followed by long periods of recovery that are hard on everyone, Hamilton most of all.

Eliza’s lips thin. “I’ll help you look.”

“Lafayette started on the third floor,” Laurens tells her.

“I’ll check the first. We’ll find him!” she promises, and rushes off.

There aren’t all that many study spaces on the ground floor that aren’t in plain view, so it isn’t long before Laurens is following her up the stairs. The first floor and up, however, are mazes of stacks and study rooms, and Hamilton could be anywhere, or not in the library at all.

Only slightly more careful to watch where he’s going, Laurens speeds through the shelves, scanning for Eliza or Hamilton. Finally, he catches the sound of Eliza’s voice.

“Alex, come on. You need to sleep.”

Then Hamilton’s voice, snappish—“I’m fine, Eliza.”

“You’re not,” she replies. “Oh, good—Laurens.”

“Alex,” Laurens says, relieved by the sight of his friend and equally worried at the state Hamilton is in—clearly exhausted and overworked.

“Laurens, tell Eliza I’m fine. I’m just finishing a paper and I’ll be fine.”

“Alex, I don’t think—” he begins.

“Fine,” Hamilton snaps, starting to gather up his books. “I just need some _quiet—_ ”

He stands, faltering as he does and catching the side of the desk heavily. Laurens rushes forward to catch him before he falls, narrowly stopping him from falling on his face.

“You are _so not_ fine,” Laurens says. “You’re—you’re the _opposite_ of fine right now.”

“He’s right, Alex,” Eliza says, slightly more composed.

Before Hamilton can argue, Lafayette appears, slightly out of breath. “Oh good,” he says before noticing that Hamilton is not actually supporting much of his own weight, “you found him.”

“You sent a search party out?” Hamilton asks, although he seems more exhausted and less irritable now.

“We hadn’t seen you in two days, Alex,” Lafayette points out. “This isn’t the first time this has happened.”

Alex sits down on the desk and runs a hand over his face. “I’m sorry.”

Eliza squeezes his shoulder. “It’s alright, Alex.”

“Yeah, you can come back to our room and get some sleep,” Laurens offers. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Hamilton says, shaking his head. “This paper is due tomorrow and I’ve barely started—I should have done it first but I got distracted and—” he stops and grips the edge of the table tightly. “I’m going to fail.”

Laurens looks desperately to Lafayette, always better in this kind of situation.

“Alex…” he begins.

Eliza puts her arm around Hamilton’s shoulders. “You’re not in any shape to write a paper right now. It’s the middle of the day, so you have plenty of time before tomorrow. Get some sleep and try again.”

“What if I don’t finish?”

“You don’t have to be perfect at everything, Alex,” Lafayette says softly.

“Let’s go,” Laurens says, pulling gently at Hamilton’s sleeve. “You’ll feel better after you sleep. At least it can’t hurt.”

Hamilton nods slowly and stands, still shaky. Once in motion, he seems to decide that the faster they get to Lauren’s and Lafayette’s dorm the faster he’ll be able to get back to work.

Eliza says goodbye at the door with a kiss on Hamilton’s cheek and a light tug of his ponytail. “Feel better, Alex. I’ll come by tonight.” Hamilton nods.

Inside, he collapses face-down on Lafayette’s bed—Laurens has top bunk. Resigned, Lafayette climbs over him to sit next to the wall and resumes reading, one hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“I’m going to get some food for all of us,” Laurens says, hovering in the doorway.

Lafayette looks up and nods. “Good idea.”

A few minutes after Laurens closes the door, Hamilton sighs and curls up closer to Lafayette. “I can’t sleep.”

“It’s only been ten minutes,” he points out.

“I know,” Hamilton says, shifting to face him. “I just—” he gestures at his temple, as though Lafayette could see the swirling thoughts, “I can’t shut my mind off.”

Lafayette sets down his book. “Lie down,” he says quietly, and gently pulls the rubber band out of Hamilton’s hair. Hamilton relaxes by degrees as Lafayette combs his fingers through his hair.

By the time Laurens gets back, Hamilton is asleep, Lafayette dozing next to him. Laurens puts the food away and crawls carefully over Hamilton into Lafayette’s lap. He opens an eye, smiling faintly, and wraps his arms around Laurens as he settles in.

Within minutes, they’re all asleep. Laurens only wakes up when he hears a knock on the door, and figuring it’s Eliza, says “Come in,” as loudly as he dares. Hamilton doesn’t so much as stir, and Lafayette only blinks once before drifting back to sleep.

Eliza starts to say hello, but Laurens motions for her to be quiet in time. She raises her eyebrows and smiles at the sight of all three of them on the bed, tiptoeing with exaggerated comedy to the end of the bed where only Lafayette’s feet reach the end.

After she sits down, she takes a piece of paper from her bag and writes, _How long has he been asleep?_ She points at Hamilton.

Laurens holds up three fingers, then changes it to four with a shrug. Eliza nods, satisfied. She pulls a book out of her bag that Laurens knows he should also be reading for sociology. While she reads, Laurens curls back against Lafayette and closes his eyes, slipping back into a half-asleep state.

A few hours later, Hamilton blinks awake, confused for a moment before he remembers where he is and how he got there.

“Lafayette?” he asks, voice rough, as he sits up.

Lafayette blinks and sits up, nearly dislodging Laurens. He smiles at the sight of Hamilton, hair a mess from sleep and Lafayette’s own doing.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Laurens says. Hamilton rolls his eyes and runs a hand through his hair, only succeeding in disheveling it further.

“Well, I for one am starving,” Eliza says, tossing her book to the side. “Let’s have dinner.”

“Agreed,” Lafayette says. “Get off of me,” he complains jokingly to Laurens.

It’s only when they’re all sitting on Lafayette’s bed, eating shitty college food, Lauren’s hand holding Hamilton’s, that Hamilton realizes how lucky he is. At a pause in the conversation, he lets his head fall on Lauren’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for today,” he says.

“It’s okay, Alex, really.” Laurens squeezes his hand.

“Still. I’m still sorry.”

Lafayette puts a hand on his back. “We know,” he says gently.

“And we love you,” Eliza adds.

Hamilton smiles. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Lafayette says.

Eliza grins. “Now, you’ve got a paper to finish.”

“Snacks and encouragement provided by yours truly,” Laurens adds.

“Not to mention motivation,” Lafayette says, raising an eyebrow, prompting a laugh from Hamilton and Laurens and an eye-roll from Eliza.

“Back to work, Hamilton,” Laurens says. “We’ve got your back.”

 


End file.
